After the Fall
by ArcherDaughterofApollo
Summary: Major MOA Spoilers. Basically, a bunch of one-shots of the characters' thoughts after certain events at the end of The Mark of Athena.
1. Nico

**WARNING: MANY SPOILERS FROM MARK OF ATHENA! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT, DO NOT READ THIS FANFICTION.  
I haven't written anything on here in awhile, but this idea came to me and I had to. Okay, actually I got the idea from **Bittersweet Blossom**'s fic **_Reactions._** Anyway, while I was reading that fic (which is a collection of one-shots focusing on different character's reactions to Percy's disappearance in TLH) I started thinking about what their reactions would be when they learned about some of the events in MOA (namely, Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus). This probably won't be many chapters, because I really only have ideas for a few of the characters. That and we don't even know if the other characters back in the States would find out about them falling.**

**I wanted to start with Leo, but since we sort of already saw his reaction in the last chapter of MOA, and I don't have my copy on hand as a reference, I decided to start with Nico's reaction, because he's awesome.**

**Anyway, enough rambling from me. On with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO and I'm not Rick Riordan because I'm incapable of writing heart-wrenching, traumatic, life-ruining cliffhangers that leave the entire fandom sobbing and basically comatose.**

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His first thoughts were those of complete disbelief. He didn't want to believe that… that that had just happened. He couldn't even say what had happened, because he really didn't know. He had been there. He and Hazel had been there. They should've been able to help. They should've done something. But they hadn't. They couldn't.

Nico's second thoughts were a little more coherent. He finally came to believe the unbelievable truth. He didn't want to, but he made himself believe it.

Percy and Annabeth had fallen… fallen into a place so terrible Nico couldn't bring himself to even think its name. The worst part about it: Nico knew what they were going to be up against. He knew what they would face. They were in a place that Nico, with all of his son of Hades powers, had barely managed to escape alive. And he had done nothing to help them avoid it.

He was haunted by his last words to Percy, right before they fell. His promise to lead the other five to Greece; to the House of Hades. Nico's words echoed in his mind:

"_I will."_

He had made a promise… a promise he knew he had to keep. Percy had said that he and Annabeth would meet them there. Nico could only hope that they would.

Nico was terrified. He'd been through so much in the past few weeks… and he was terrified by it all. Everyone he knew seemed to forget he was only a kid… he was only thirteen. But, that seemed to be grown-up by demigod standards, even though Nico didn't believe that for a minute. True, Annabeth had run away from her home and lived for weeks on her own when she was only seven. True, Percy had defeated Ares in single-combat when he was only twelve. But they would've had to have been scared then, wouldn't they?

_I bet they're scared now,_ Nico couldn't help but think. He couldn't blame them. He was scared _for_ them.

But Nico also knew two truths that made him a little less scared.

One: As near as he could tell, they were both still alive.

And Two: As long as they were both alive, and both together, then they would be okay.

Since the first time Nico had met Percy, he'd known he was something special. Even when he blamed Percy for Bianca's death, he had still possessed a slight admiration for him. Now, Nico was absolutely positive that Percy was the most powerful demigod of their generation. He was more powerful than Jason, or Frank, or Thalia, or even Nico himself. And over the years, Nico had noticed Percy was always at his most powerful and most confident when Annabeth was by his side (or at least nearby).

So, Nico was sure. As long as Percy and Annabeth were together, they could overcome any challenge.

Even when that challenge lay in the depths of Tartarus.

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**I wasn't quite sure how to go about this. I tried to get across the fact that Nico has been through Tartarus himself (and that doing so left him in with some pretty deep psychological scars), and that he knows exactly what Percy and Annabeth are up against. I also tried to get a point across that a lot of people forget: Nico is only thirteen years old. It's hard to remember that, especially since he's so dark and serious. But it's the truth. And I figured that like any thirteen year old who's suffered a lot of emotional scarring, Nico would be scared for his friends.**

**I also wanted add the part in reference to some of his last lines in MOA, where he says Percy was the most powerful demigod he'd ever met. Even though I was still in a state of emotional numbness from the previous chapter (thanks for that Rick), I did manage some fangirling over that statement. Not because I have anything against any of the other characters. I love all of them (yes, by all I do include Jason, because he's awesome). **

**Uh, yeah, so rant over, I'll just say that I might update this, I might not. It depends. **

**Reviews are great! They're almost as good as Percy and Annabeth not falling to Tartarus… almost.**


	2. Jason

**Alright, so here's the next chapter. I made an attempt at Piper's reaction, but I couldn't get it to sound right. So instead I did Jason's, and it turned out much nicer.**

**My friend Kayla would also like me to add that she contributed to this chapter (though she did very little). **

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Jason had never dealt with loss well. Being in charge of an entire legion? Not a problem. Fighting monsters? No biggie. Chances of imminent death? Since when wasn't that an issue? But losing a comrade? He'd never been able to handle that well. After the battle on Mount Othrys, there had been many casualties. He and Reyna had tried to do their best to ease the losses to the legion, but Jason had blamed himself for months.

Now, Percy and Annabeth were gone. Jason knew that it wasn't his fault; that there hadn't been anything he could've done to prevent their fall, but he still blamed himself. He felt that he should've done something about it. Of course, he hadn't been able too. He, Leo, and Frank had been too busy saving the statue to realize what was going on below them.

Jason remembered when he'd returned to where Hazel and Nico had been standing. The shattered looks on their faces had been enough to tell him that things were terribly wrong, and he immediately knew that it had to do with Percy and Annabeth.

He regretted never having that great of a relationship with Annabeth. Jason would've had to have been oblivious to not notice the skeptical looks she gave him. He knew she didn't really trust him. But he also didn't blame her. After all, he was her boyfriend's replacement, thrown into her life by her least favorite goddess. Jason had always felt bad for her, especially when he didn't have his memory and he could only imagine that there was someone suffering the same kind of pain at Camp Jupiter. He'd never tried to reach out to Annabeth, though. He felt that would only make things worse.

Jason had only known Percy for a week. At first, they'd gotten along well, sort of. Then they'd been possessed by blood-thirsty spirits and almost killed each other, leaving both of them wondering who would really win in a fight between the two of them. But Jason remembered the times they'd actually worked together: the storm in Charleston Harbor, getting passed the Pillars of Hercules, almost drowning in the nyphaeum, fighting against Ephialtes and Otis. Jason remembered how powerful he'd felt at those times. He'd been beginning to think that if they survived this war, he and Percy could actually be pretty good friends.

He didn't know if he'd ever get that chance now. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to fix the broken friendship he had with Annabeth either. But Jason was sure about one thing.

He knew as an absolute truth that he would do everything in his power to get Percy and Annabeth back. Even if it was at the cost of his own life.

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**I'm actually really proud of this chapter, even if we haven't had a Jason POV since TLH and I didn't have much of a reference for him. Of course, we've never had a Nico POV either, so that excuse probably isn't a very good one. **

**Speaking of a Nico POV, who else believes (or seriously hopes) for one in the next book? Because, there really needs to be one. Rick has given way too much of an opening for Nico to become a major character to not give him a POV. So yes, POV's for Nico!**

**Anyway, reviews are lovely. They are treasured as much as Ella treasures words! **


	3. Hazel

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING!... Not that the PJO/HOO fandom has much to be thankful for, since Percabeth is in Tartarus and The House of Hades doesn't come out until next October…**

**Anyways….**

**So, this chapter gave me a lot of problems. First, I couldn't figure out who's POV to use, then once I finally picked one, I couldn't figure out how she would sound… so, yeah, that's why it took so long. **

**Anyway, here's Hazel's reaction.**

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After spending over eighty years in the Underworld, Hazel couldn't easily wish death on anyone. But when Percy and Annabeth fell into the Pit, she almost found herself hoping that they _wouldn't_ survive. Almost. She hated herself for wishing that, but Hazel couldn't help it. After what Nico had told her about his time spent in Tartarus, she didn't want any of her other friends suffering through the same things. And if the only way for them to avoid it was through death, then Hazel couldn't help but think that might be the better option.

Besides, Percy and Annabeth were practically guaranteed Elysium. If they weren't, then Hazel knew there was no hope for her earning it her second time around. Nico said they weren't dead, though, which meant they would still had to face all the horrors that Tartarus had to offer. Hazel was worried for her friends. She had no doubt in what Nico had said about Percy being the strongest demigod he had ever met. Percy was very powerful… extremely powerful. Hazel had known that since the first day she'd met him. And there wasn't a doubt in Hazel's mind that Percy would be even stronger if he had Annabeth with him.

There was something else that worried Hazel, something that almost overshadowed her worry for Percy and Annabeth. Right before they had fallen, Percy had asked Nico to make a promise. Nico hadn't said anything about it—Hazel figured he assumed she hadn't heard. But she had heard. And now Hazel had an awful gut feeling that Nico's promise might have something to do with the Prophecy of Seven.

Hazel was scared for her brother. She was scared for her friends. She knew what Nico had said about Percy being the most powerful out of all of them, but she also knew her own observations she had made. When she had first met him, she'd noticed the sadness hidden in his face. The same sadness Jason had. The look that showed they would one day face a monster they couldn't beat—a challenge they couldn't overcome. The same was true with Annabeth. She was brave and clever, but Hazel had seen the moments when she thought no one was looking—the expressions of doubt that flashed across Annabeth's face.

Hazel didn't doubt either of their strength. But she hadn't doubted Nico's either. He was probably the second most powerful demigod she knew. Tartarus had left him broken. Would the same happen to Percy and Annabeth?

Hazel wasn't sure if that's what she wanted.

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**Like I said, this chapter was heck to write. The part where Hazel was almost wishing they were dead came from a random thought I had one day. But I don't want Percabeth dead. I would rather die than see them dead. **

**I also tried to add a theory floating around the fandom that the promise Nico makes to Percy might come into play with the line in the Great Prophecy. Anyone else think that might happen?**

**If you guys have any ideas or recommendations for the POVs of the next chapters, review with them. I planned on doing the _Argo II_ crew first, then move on to other characters. That plan might fall through since I don't have ideas for Frank or Piper, and Leo's reaction was sort of covered in the end of MOA.**

**So, review with ideas. Or plan out reviews. Both are good!**


	4. Frank

**Whoo! Look at that! Two updates within two days of each other. I already had a plan for Frank's, and just needed to type it up. **

**So, here's Frank's chapter!**

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Frank hadn't known it a few months ago, but it turned out that there were different types of losses. There were those that didn't hurt that much: losses in competition, loss of important belongings, and losses of people who you knew, but didn't really know. Those were bad, but not life-altering… most of the time.

But there were the other types of losses Frank had become all too familiar with, and they all involved losing someone who you were close to. Within the small time frame of a few months, Frank had lost his mother, his home, his grandmother… and now he had lost the only guy he'd ever partially counted as an older brother, along with a girl he'd almost started to see as a scary, could-beat-him-up older sister.

Frank didn't know how to react to what had happened. He felt like he was just having a really bad dream- like he'd had after his mom had died—and that he'd eventually wake up and everything would be back to normal. Percy and Jason would be practicing sword fighting on deck (that had never actually happened, but Frank could easily see it as a possibility). Annabeth would be trying to calmly convince Coach Hedge that he didn't need to attack every bird they passed while in the air.

That wasn't going to happen though. Because Frank wasn't asleep and dreaming a nightmare. No, he was fully awake, living a nightmare. Percy and Annabeth were gone. The two people out of their group (besides Hazel) that Frank felt he could actually talk to. (He could talk to Leo, but their conversations never really turned out well). Frank could relate with Percy and Annabeth. After all, he and Percy _were_ related (in some weird, distant, by non-existent godly DNA, way). And Annabeth had been the one he'd trusted not to laugh at him when he needed to figure out the secret of the Not-Chinese-Handcuffs.

Percy and Annabeth were two people Frank looked up to. They had always seemed so… in charge. Even in the worst situations, Annabeth had always been the first with a plan. And even though Percy didn't seem like "plan-guy" at first, there had been more than one occasion where Frank's life had been saved thanks to his quick thinking.

The thing that bothered Frank the most was that he felt like he owed them. Like he owed Percy and Annabeth so much… especially Percy. But Frank hadn't been able to repay them. He hadn't been able to save them from falling into Tartarus.

There was one more thing that stuck in Frank's mind and kept him up at night. He remembered what his dad had told him about his gift… the fact that he was a good battle strategist or something along those lines. While Annabeth was around, Frank hadn't felt the need to really use those gifts. But now that she was gone, Frank felt like it was his responsibility to take up her burden. He wasn't sure if he could.

But then he remembered what Percy and Annabeth meant to him and the rest of the group, and a new spark of confidence flared through him.

Frank decided that if he was meant to be the thinker of the group now, that he was going to find a solution for getting Percy and Annabeth back. And he was going to follow Annabeth's advice.

He was going to keep it simple.

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**Frank is one of my favorite characters, and I've always seen his and Percy's two-book relationship as a very strong brotherly relationship. And then Frank's and Annabeth's relationship in MOA (mostly the scene where he asks her about the handcuffs), I saw the budding brother-sister relationship there. And of course the was the heart-wrenching "keep it simple" bit that I could leave out.**

**Again, if you guys have any ideas for future chapters, leave them in a review!Fra**


	5. Coach Hedge

**So, this chapter was really interesting to write. First, since it's Coach Hedge's reaction and therefore is in his POV, I wasn't sure what name to use for him. So, I sort of used all of them. Also, in the books I noticed he pretty much always calls the other characters by their last names, so that's what they're called here. Hopefully, you guys will still be able to figure out who is who. (Hazel's probably the only one that isn't widely known. Her last name is Levesque). **

Feeling useless and like a complete failure was a normal feeling for Gleeson Hedge. After all, wasn't that the reason he'd been sent to the Wilderness School in the first place? Because it was supposed to be a "quiet, easy, assignment"? Of course, it hadn't ended that way, after he discovered McLean and Valdez, and then when Grace showed up. But originally, he'd been sent there because he was useless.

He felt useless now. He felt like the biggest failure in the history of satyr failures (and that was a very, very long list).

There hadn't been anything he could've done to help Jackson and Chase, but he felt like he should've done something. Even though the other kids were all beating themselves up about it, Coach Hedge felt four times as guilty. He was the chaperone. He was supposed to protect the kids, but he was doing a real lousy job at that.

Maybe he had been too hard on Chase and Jackson after they fell asleep in the stables that night. He could read emotions, after all, even though he wasn't as good at it has he had been. Those two had been telling the truth when they said all that had happened was that they were talking and then fell asleep. But he'd still given them a hard time about it. He didn't know why he had, but he did.

When the other kids had come back onto the ship without Jackson or Chase, he'd tried to keep a firm head, and not let his emotions show that much. He'd tried to keep the same face the kids knew him for… the overly aggressive satyr. He'd gone on about how he should've blown up more stuff, and how that could've saved them. But he wasn't serious. He knew that there wasn't anything he could've done.

But if that was true, then why did he feel like he should've?

**And there's Coach Hedge's chapter. Yes, it's shorter than my other ones, but I wasn't exactly sure how to write his. Hope I did okay.**

**As always, review! Send ideas and POV requests!**


	6. Thalia

**So, it's been absolutely forever, I realize that. But, you probably don't want to hear the many excuses I could come up with, so I won't bother you with them.**

**This is Thalia's chapter. I know I said I'd be doing the **_**Argo II**_** crew first, but Piper's really the only one I have left there, and I'm having problems writing her chapter. So, instead I moved on to Thalia. **

Stupid. That's what Thalia thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was just like Percy and Annabeth to do something like this. To fall into the darkest part of Hades, sacrificing their own safety for the rest of the world… again. Falling together in some noble and heroic way… like they always did. She shouldn't have been surprised.

Only she was. When Thalia got the Iris-Message from Piper explaining what had happened, her mind had completely blanked… something that _never_ happened to her. She hadn't been able to form a coherent thought for the longest time, and once she did her only thought was _Stupid._

She didn't understand how Percy and Annabeth could do that. The circumstances leading up to it… how did they get into a situation like that? Had her brain been working properly, Thalia would've been able to answer that question easily: _It's Percy and Annabeth… they're always in bad situations._ But her brain wasn't working, so she could think about their track-record, and how they're famous for being thrown into the deadliest situations imaginable. Now they were in the worst place—the absolute deadliest situation that they ever could-ever would be in.

A small part of Thalia had always known it would be the two of them in the end… the two of the seven to land in a disaster zone. She'd never dared to think that the disaster zone would be Tartarus.

She wanted to know what they were thinking… the moment they realized what was going to happen. Knowing both of them, she could imagine it pretty well. Percy would have been thinking of nothing other than saving Annabeth. Annabeth would've had way too many thoughts running through her mind that it would be impossible to actually tell what exactly she was thinking at one split second of time, but Thalia knew Annabeth well enough to know that she would've been thinking of every way to prevent herself and Percy from falling, and, once those plans fell through, her thoughts would've turned to preparing for what was about to happen. The long, hard fall to the pits of darkness.

It wasn't Percy and Annabeth who were stupid—though Percy definitely had his moments. It was the fact that after everything they had been through—everything that they had done for the good of the world—they still got dealt the short end of the stick.

Thalia shouldn't have been surprised. But she was. She had hoped that once Annabeth found Percy again, they would finally have some good luck for a change. She should've known better than to hope for that.

Still, Thalia had to remind herself that things could've been worse—not much worse, but worse none the less. If Percy and Annabeth were anything, they were fighters. They would be able to fight their way through Tartarus and come out—at least figuratively—clean on the other side.

At least, that was the hope Thalia dared to hold on to.

**I think I lost a bit of the meaning towards the end there… oh well. Really hope Thalia doesn't come after me for not doing her justice… I really did try.**

**I'm really trying to get Piper's chapter done. If you guys have any suggestions for hers, I'm all ears! Actually, suggestions would be greatly appreciated! As are reviews :).**


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